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Financial (Dis-)information : evidence from a multi-country audit study

Author

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  • Gine,Xavier
  • Mazer,Rafael Keenan
  • Gine,Xavier
  • Mazer,Rafael Keenan

Abstract

An audit study was conducted in Ghana, Mexico and Peru to understand the quality of financial information and products offered to low-income customers. Trained auditors visited multiple financial institutions, seeking credit and savings products. Consistent with Gabaix and Laibson (2006), staff only provides information about the cost when asked, disclosing less than a third of the total cost voluntarily. In fact, the cost disclosed voluntarily is uncorrelated with the expensiveness of the product. In addition, clients are rarely offered the cheapest product, most likely because staff is incentivized to offer more expensive and thus more profitable products to the institution. This suggests that clients are not provided enough information to be able to compare among products, and that disclosure and transparency policies may be ineffective because they undermine the commercial interest of financial institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gine,Xavier & Mazer,Rafael Keenan & Gine,Xavier & Mazer,Rafael Keenan, 2016. "Financial (Dis-)information : evidence from a multi-country audit study," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7750, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7750
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    Cited by:

    1. Garber, Gabriel & Mian, Atif & Ponticelli, Jacopo & Sufi, Amir, 2024. "Consumption smoothing or consumption binging? The effects of government-led consumer credit expansion in Brazil," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Takunori Ishihara & Takanori Ida, 2022. "The Effect of Information Provision on Stated and Revealed Preferences: A Field Experiment on the Choice of Power Tariffs Before and After Japanese Retail Electricity Liberalization," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 82(3), pages 573-599, July.
    3. Andrea Bacchiocchi & Federico Favaretto & Germana Giombini, 2025. "Balancing Interests: Economic Incentives in Financial Education for Households and Banks," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 11(2), pages 515-545, July.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance

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